Senegal: Gay Group Calls on New President to Protect Gay Rights

Macky Sall, the new president of Senegal who takes office this week, has been called on to improve the legal protection for gay and lesbian people in his country.

The group Human Rights Watch wrote an open letter to the president congratulating him on his election victory and calling on him to address several rights issues as he takes office.

Among them is the repeal of Article 319.3 of the west African state’s penal code, which makes gay acts illegal by criminalising “indecent acts” and “acts against nature” with a punishment of between one and five years in prison.